The team made the discovery as they were investigating the genus of aquatic creatures known as Promachocrinus, often referred to simply as Antarctic feather stars, as one media outlet pointed out. Of these stars, only one species, Promachocrinus kerguelensis, had been properly identified until recently.
During the course of their work, the researchers classified several species of Promachocrinus, with probably the most peculiar of them being the newly discovered Promachocrinus fragarius.
This creature has about 20 “arms” attached to the central body that bears a certain resemblance to a strawberry – the fact that reportedly resulted in the Promachocrinus fragarius being nicknamed as the “Antarctic strawberry feather star.”
These bizarre entities supposedly dwell at depths ranging from 20 meters to 2 kilometers.
The new research, the results of which were published in the Invertebrate Systematics journal, was made possible thanks to the previous efforts to collect and document Promachocrinus specimens, which were undertaken during expeditions to the Antarctic Ocean between 2008 and 2017.